CFP - The Neglected Times of Architecture

[Matthew Heins]

There's a CFP for the conference "The Neglected Times of Architecture," taking place at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) in March, with abstracts (in English or French) due October 1.

The CFP is copied below (one of the longest I've ever seen), or can be found in pdf format on their website at https://sashalab.be/travaux/les-temps-negliges-de-larchitecture/

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The Neglected Times of Architecture

In 1982, the German philosopher Karsten Harries described a “terror of time” within architecture
(1982 : 59). While urban planning is better known for its engagements with the city as a dynamic network
of shifting flows, architecture has long been conceived as stable and permanent (Brand, 1995; Jenkins, 2002;
Yaneva, 2008; Cairns and Jacobs, 2014). From political and religious monuments built to stand for centuries
to the modernist aesthetic that “denies the idea of wear” (Denis and Pontille, 2022: 88; Mostafavi and
Leatherbarrow, 1993), Western architectural thought has largely aimed to bypass or control the effects of
time on the built environment (Till, 2009; Abenia, 2021). Correspondingly, dominant visual conventions
within the discipline have tended to portray static, pristine constructions (Wilson, 2005 ; Till, 2000) that
foreground the architect’s final intentions. These representations frequently obscure the improvisations
required during the building process, as well as the inevitable transformations that occur through everyday
use (Hutin et al., 2021). In doing so, they often neutralise the multiple and entangled temporalities (Blunt,
Ebbensgaard, and Sheringham, 2020) underlying the built environment.

While the past century witnessed some exceptions—such as architectural approaches that embraced
flexibility, adaptability, and transformation (Abramson, 2016)—it was nonetheless largely dominated by a
technicist conception of the built environment, oriented toward a “control over space, time, and the user
within it” (Schneider and Till, 2007: 8). Heritage doctrines (Poisson, 2015), for their part, have long
prioritised the preservation of an original state, effectively freezing the meanings and representations of the
built environment in a fixed “time zero”. These conceptions rest on the illusion of a built environment
“characterised by perfect order, completeness, immanence and internal homogeneity rather than leaky,
partial and heterogeneous entities” (Graham and Thrift, 2007: 10), one purged of the traces and
transformations brought about by the passage of time.

Attuning to the Multiple Temporalities of Architecture

In the context of the climate emergency and a broader regime of uncertainty (Beck, 2008)—both of which
challenge the notion of inevitable progress and the persistence of the extractivist model (Simay, 2024)—a
renewed set of concerns are emerging. These entail for instance an interest in practices historically sidelined
by the Industrial Revolution, such as the use of local materials, vernacular knowledge, and opening up to
more-than-human environments (Ibid.). Such shifts prompt a reconsideration of architectural and spatial

practices, moving away from static conceptions of the built environment toward more dynamic

understandings that embrace the multiple temporalities inherent in the life cycle of buildings and spatial
configurations. Other alliances are being formed—attentive not only to human time, but also to the
temporalities of materials and non-human entities—recognising their interdependence, agency, resistance,
and vulnerability. A growing body of practice and research is now placing these multiple temporalities at
their core, aiming to limit various forms of obsolescence—technical, representational, functional, and
beyond.

Building as A Process

In response to these challenges, growing attention—both within architectural discourse and within the
Humanities and Social Sciences—is focusing on the often-overlooked everyday dynamics of architecture
and those who sustain them. This includes those engaged on construction sites (Jounin, 2009; Wall, 2019),
who must navigate the inherent unpredictability of building processes and the agency of materials that may
resist or diverge from intended outcomes (Yaneva, 2008). It also encompasses the evolving needs of
building users as new demands arise in response, for instance, to the uncertainties of climate change. As an
example, the French notion of maîtrise d’usage (user expertise) (Hallauer, 2017) encourages architects to
engage—early in the design process and over time—with the evolving interactions between humans, nonhumans,
the built environment, and its immediate surroundings. Moreover, there is an increasing interest in
mundane practices of care related to acts of repair and maintenance (Sample, 2016; Strebel, 2011; Mattern,
2021; Denis and Pontille, 2022), as well as in the temporalities of neglect, wear (Rotor et al., 2010),
degradation (Cairns and Jacobs, 2014), abandonment (Abenia, 2021), demolition (Howa, 2023), and reuse.
These lines of inquiry move beyond purely technical or material understandings of the built environment,
situating them within broader social and political frameworks.

Against this backdrop, what constellation of human and non-human actors is activated over time through
these evolving conceptions? In what ways, and to what ends, do they engage with the affects, practices,
attachments, conflicts, power relations, negotiations, tensions, commitments, or fatigue experienced by
those involved? How do they challenge the boundaries between the roles of designer, builder, user, and
manager? How are the resources, skills, and labour of other actors—traditionally marginalised within the
study of architectural and construction processes—recognised and integrated within these complex

temporalities?

Revisiting Tools and Methods

These concerns prompt a critical reflection on how multiple temporalities can be apprehended, questioning,
for instance, the limitations of traditional architectural tools. These appear insufficient to grasp the dynamic
nature of buildings (Estevez, 2017): the ongoing processes of construction, the unforeseen developments
of a project, its transformations (Latour and Yaneva, 2008), or the reality of the building’s life
(Leatherbarrow, 2020) and of its users. In response to these limitations, alternative methodological
approaches exist. They include, for example, building biographies and social histories (Lepoutre, 2012;
Blunt, Ebbensgaard, and Sheringham, 2020), as well as audio/visual methods—such as film, sketching,
graphic narration, and inhabited surveys (relevé habité)—employed not only within architectural practice but
also across the HSS.

This conference seeks to unfold the multiple temporal dimensions of architecture and the built
environment, to foreground the actions, resources, and actors implicated in these processes, and to explore
research methodologies capable of apprehending such dynamics. We welcome contributions from a range
of disciplinary fields: architecture, social history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, archaeology,
geography, urban studies, engineering… In short, any practitioner or researcher interested in sharing
methods and insights that promote a temporally attuned understanding of the built environment. Priority
will be given to contributions grounded in empirical fieldwork. As the conceptions of time discussed so far
largely draw on Western perspectives of the built environment, we also encourage proposals that decentre
this view and engage with approaches developed in other cultural and geographical contexts.

The event will also feature a dedicated space for the exhibition of (audio-)visual materials stemming from
research engaging with these themes. Submissions may therefore take the form of traditional oral
presentations, as well as shorter presentations centred on one or more audio/visual pieces—such as
photographs, films, drawings, maps...

Submission Guidelines

Proposals—written in French or English (maximum 5,000 characters including spaces and
bibliography)—should be submitted by October 1, 2025, via email to
temps.architecture[at]gmail[dot]com. Please indicate whether your proposal is intended for the oral
presentation or for the exhibition. Submissions to both categories are also welcome. Abstracts should include
a title and be submitted in .pdf and fully anonymous. A short biography of the author(s) should be
included in the email, with mention of academic status and institutional affiliation(s).

Full versions of the selected contributions will be expected by February 2, 2026.

Please note: The conference will be bilingual (French/English), but no simultaneous translation will be
provided.

Timeline

October 1, 2025: Deadline for abstract submissions
November 3, 2025: Notification of accepted proposals
February 2, 2026: Submission of full papers from selected participants
March 17 & 18, 2026: Conference in Brussels

Organising Committee
Tiphaine Abenia (ULB), Ludivine Damay (ULB), Pauline Dubois (ULB), Charlotte Gyselynck (ULB),
Mélusine Le Brun (ULB), Pauline Lefebvre (ULB), Julie Neuwels (ULiège), Christine Schaut (ULB).

Scientific Committee
Audrey Courbebaisse (ENSA Bretagne), Kent Fitzsimons (ENSA Bordeaux), Michaël Ghyoot (Rotor),
Marion Howa (ENSA Paris-Val-de-Seine), Benjamin Leclercq (Université de Strasbourg), Gérald Ledent
(UCLouvain), Sarah Melsens (University of Antwerpen), Laetitia Overney (Université du Havre), Maria
Anita Palumbo (ENSAP Lille).

Bibliography

Abenia, T. (2021) « Construire un autre regard sur l’abandon, réactiver la charge de potentialités du
projet », Les Cahiers de la recherche architecturale urbaine et paysagère, 12. DOI: 10.4000/craup.8388
Abramson, D. (2016) Obsolescence: An Architectural History, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
Beck, U. (2008 [1986]) La société du risque: sur la voie d'une autre modernité, Paris, Flammarion.
Blunt, A., Ebbensgaard, C and Sheringham, O. (2020) « The “living of time”: Entangled
Temporalities of Home and the City. », Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers,46. DOI : 10.1111/
tran.12405.
Brand, S. (1995) How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built. Penguin.
Cairns, S. and Jacobs, J. (2014) Buildings Must Die: A Perverse View of Architecture. Cambridge,
Massachusetts, MIT Press.
Denis, J. and Pontille, D. (2022) Le soin des choses. Politiques de la maintenance. Paris, La Découverte.
Estevez, D. (2017) « Représentation dissensuelle en architecture », Entrelacs, 13. DOI : 10.4000/
entrelacs.2016.
Graham, S. and Thrift, N. (2007) « Out of Order: Understanding Repair and Maintenance », Theory,
Culture & Society, 24(3), pp.1–25. DOI: 10.1177/0263276407075954.
Hallauer, E. (2017) Du vernaculaire à la déprise d'oeuvre : Urbanisme, architecture, design. Art et histoire de l'art.
Thèse de doctorat, Université Paris-Est.
Harries, K. (1982) « Building and the Terror of Time », Perspecta, 19, pp. 59–69. DOI : 10.2307/1567050.
Howa, M. (2023) « Transformer la cité de transit de Beutre : pour une conception ouverte en
architecture », Metropolitiques, DOI : 10.56698/metropolitiques.1943.
Hutin, C. et al. (2021) Les communautés à l'oeuvre / Communities at work, Catalogue du pavillon français de la
Biennale d'architecture de Venise, Paris, La Découverte.
Jenkins, L. (2002) « Geography and Architecture: 11, Rue du Conservatoire and the Permeability of
Buildings », Space and Culture, 5(3), pp.222–236. DOI : 10.1177/1206331202005003003.
Jounin, N. (2009) Chantier interdit au public, Paris, La Découverte.
Latour B. and Yaneva, A. (2008) « "Donnez-moi un fusil et je ferai bouger tous les bâtiments" : Le point
de vue d’une fourmi sur l’architecture » dans Geiser, R. (ed.), Explorations in Architecture: Teaching, Design,
Research, Basel: Birkhäuser, pp.80–89.
Leatherbarrow, D. (2020) Building Time: Architecture, event, and experience. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Lepoutre, D. (2012). « L'immeuble, mode d'emploi. Devenir de l'habitat haussmannien. », Ethnologie
française, 42(3), pp.419–428. DOI : 10.3917/ethn.123.0419.
Mostafavi, M. and Leatherbarrow, D. (1993) On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time. Cambridge,
Massachusetts, MIT Press.
Mattern, S. (2021) « Soin et Maintenance », Habitante,1(2), pp. 115-169. DOI: 10.3917/habi.001.0115
Poisson, O. (2015) « Le patrimoine mondial : doctrines et références, instruments et procédures »,
intervention dans le cadre de la journée d'étude « Agir pour le patrimoine mondial », Cité de l'architecture
et du patrimoine, 31/03/2015.
Rotor, d’Hoop, A. and Zitouni B. (2010) Usus/usures. État des lieux – How Things Stand. Bruxelles,
Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Sample, H. (2016) Maintenance architecture. Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press.
Schneider, T. and Till, J. (2007) Flexible housing. Londres, Architectural Press.
Simay, P. (2024) Bâtir avec ce qui reste, Vincenne, Editions Terre Urbaine.
Strebel, I. (2011) « The Living Building : Toward a Geography of Maintenance Work », Social & Cultural
geography, 12(3), pp. 243–262.
Till, J. (2000) « Thick Time: Architecture and the Traces of Time » dans Borden, I. et Rendell, J.
InterSections: Architectural Histories and Critical Theories. London, Routledge, pp. 156–18.
Till, J. (2009) Architecture Depends. Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press.
Yaneva, A. (2008) « How Buildings “Surprise”: The Renovation of the Alte Aula in Vienna », Science &
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Wall, C. (2019) « ‘It was a Totally Different Approach to Building!’ Constructing Architectural Concrete
in 1960s London, » dans Gosseye, J., Stead, N. et van der Plaat, D. (eds.), Speaking of Buildings: Oral History
in Architectural Research, New York, Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 50–75.